a fairy's guide to romance | kim sunoo

SEVENTEEN ; pink head, number one yunyun defender.

THE WHOLE AUDITORIUM was silent. the mic picked up the faint crackling of the paper being opened by sunghoon, and yunsol’s ears could pick up the loud beats of her heart very clearly. afraid that the mic would also pick up the sound of her heart beating, she patted her chest rhythmically to calm it down. her other hand was attached to her hip like a true pageant queen would.

“your question is… why did you decide to join the pageant?”

yunsol eased. it was a question she practiced with gyeoul backstage. it was probably the simplest and easiest one which got disregarded by her, but she still knew what to say. sunghoon repeated the question, although she merely used this time to finalize her thoughts. she glanced but never stared at the crowd for too long knowing fully well that it would make her a nervous wreck in an instant.

the entire crowd stared at her, for simply how can one not? yunsol was simply stunning wearing a long off-the-shoulder white gown that showed off her prominent collarbone, emphasized more since her hair was collected in a ponytail. her dress was the simplest out of the bunch, however the dress perfectly balances out her visuals. there was nothing about her look that appeared misplaced.

“—you may now provide your answer.”

she smiled. “i have decided to enter this pageant as a representative of my sport, chess, to disprove remarks that chess is not a sport as it does not make one physically fit. chess is a mind sport that shapes us to be logical, tactical, and patient people which are key components to become a better player of any sport or any competition we face in life. and i’d like to be the living proof of what chess sharpened me to be.”

yunsol’s eyes laid on a pink head watching her intently from the crowd.

the crowd was quick to applaud right away, however yunsol continued. “um, and also,” she said through the mic carefully and hesitantly.

her confidence was regained in a second despite the collective confused looks in the crowd. “joining this pageant would never cross my mind.. but someone who i once shared a trip with to jeju had convinced me persistently to join. mainly for the tickets, i’d like to say,” she chuckled. the crowd also lightly sneered and snickered. she fixed her gaze at sunoo’s direction. “that specific trip was quite awful because of me and so if i do ever win, it wouldn’t just grant me immense joy that i could represent my sport but i can also redo the unpleasant memories i shared with this person and replace them with better and happier ones. thank you.”

applause and whistling struck the auditorium while she smiled at his direction. she couldn’t make out whether or not he was smiling back at her, but she’d like to think he did too.

a number of the remaining contestants took their turn of the question and answer portion after her. yunsol stood on the side the whole time with a smile. it was quite difficult to keep up a smile and an elegant poise when you could feel your feet physically hating on your heels, although she persisted despite being in the back.

in the front row, yunsol could see her biological mom giving her signals to always keep up her smile and her poise.

suddenly, she was six years old again and struggling to breathe in her tight dress because she ‘just had to’ eat another bowl of ice cream after dinner.

she shifted uncomfortably in her position. suddenly, the lights were too bright, her heart beated in an unsteady pace, her hands trembled, the feedback of the mic irritated her, the multiple ‘um’ and ‘ums’ from the contestant speaking bothered her, she couldn't breathe she couldn't—

“are you okay?” she felt a hand on her shoulder. yunsol took one shaky deep breath before turning her head around at daeun behind her, who also had kindly placed her hand on her shoulder.